by Ethan Johnson
October 12, 2007
The regular season is nearly over for FCD, and while a spot in the playoffs is assured for both teams, every standings point counts to cement their position and determine the actual playoffs schedule. Club Deportivo Chivas USA started out the season being fairly nondescript, with the only notable achievement (to my knowledge) being Ante Razov's 100th goal. Somewhere, somehow, Chivas USA got the memo that said that they could play. FCD, meanwhile, has been racked with injuries, and a revolving door at nearly every position. I'd prefer to see more stability going into the playoffs, but whatever works, right? Let's get right to the investigative bullet points:
- Marlena attended her second-ever pro soccer game. She suggested it, even! She likes to sit up on the concourse level for a wide wiew of the field, whereas I prefer as close to the front row as I can get. Partly to give my camera a fighting chance to zoom in on the action, and partly because sitting up close puts one right in the action, so to speak. I sat with Mar in the concourse seats for the second half, and it was hard to stay focused on the game because it's so far away, relatively speaking.
- We brought our walkie-talkies to the game so we could keep in contact while sitting in different sections. At one point, I had to do my Paul Maguire impression (since his schtick this year seems to be sitting in far-flung sections of the stadium, instead of in the broadcast booth).
- Although Marlena is but a doe-eyed n00b to soccer, she groks what ought to be happening, and isn't. Her advice for FCD: 1) Get a formation and go with it. 2 games under her belt, and still no idea what FCD's strategy is, other than "hope to score". 2) Denilson is useless. His funky footwork might be entertaining to some, but it's not producing any benefits for FCD otherwise. 3) Quit ball-watching.
- Word to anyone who sits in the endline behind the goal for a Thursday night game on ESPN2: The camera boom is NOT half as cool as you think it's going to be. I managed to discover how front row seats can be classified as "obstructed view". It was kinda neat to see how ESPN does some of its production, but beyond that the boom guaranteed that loads of in-game photos were out of the question. Maybe next time.
- UGH! It just NOW dawned on me that I missed my chance to point at the boom operator and ask the crowd, "who's the boom king?" Dammit dammit dammit.
- The support section decided to stand on the stage for the first half, leaving their usual section rather empty. Attendance for this game was the pits as it was (not even 10K). There are mixed reviews about the support group being on the stage. The acoustics sent their drum sounds outward better, but not their chanting. Worse, the samba band at the top of the bowl was drowning them out most of the time and I had to strain to hear what they were saying. They were much more audible during the second half in their usual spot.
- This game was "Toja wig night". Nothing like Bobby Rhine being escorted off of the field for a bizarre red card by a security guy wearing a Toja wig. I took mine off at halftime because apparently mine was laced with cooties. It itched like friggin' crazy. And as people noted many times, the joke kinda got old about 5 minutes into the night.
- OK, this cries out for explanation, so here it is: Before the game, a guy came over to section 116 wearing what appeared to be a David Beckham LA Galaxy shirt and shorts. People wondered why he wore LAG stuff to a Chivas USA game. "They're both from LA," he explained. Upon closer inspection, we got the joke. He made color copies of every element of a Beckham jersey and taped it to a plain white shirt. Utter brilliance was achieved when he wore actual Adidas shorts, but taped a photocopied Adidas logo over the official logo. Photo below.
- I didn't meet him, but Brad Guzan was mere yards away during the pre-game warmups. Unlike some opposing players, he's all business, and doesn't concern himself with obnoxious people in the support section. He did his warmups and beelined for the locker room. I found out why he's "my guy": He's from Homer Glen, IL (helllowww). That's one town over from my parents. Maybe if FCD and Chivas meet in the playoffs I'll try to officially meet him after the game. It was cool to see him up close, anyway, after seeing him on TV all year.
- Bobby Rhine got a red card for who knows what around the 80th minute. Arturo Alvarez got a yellow. No idea what the deal was. Looking back at the incident, IF the yellow was for injuring a Chivas player, then it appears Adrian Serioux is the culprit. But even then, in low-def, it seemed incidental, and not card-worthy. The ref seems to have a huge chip on his shoulder and I have no clue why he went card crazy after a whole game of nothing doing. Yo, MLS: Maybe ref camp is in order this offseason?
- My worst nightmare came true: 0-0 draw. Well, at least Chivas didn't light up FCD for millions of goals, which could have happened. Ray Burse was in at goal for FCD, which ended up being something of a goalkeeper duel. Mar had a good time, so that's all that matters.
Click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized image. Enjoy!
Next and final regular-season home game is on October 20 against the Kansas City (yeee-awwwwn... excuse me, whew) Wizards. Expect the unexpected! Oh, and more in-game photos. <EM>
(Much, much more virtual ink has been spilled by me about Major League Soccer. The fledgling but growing MLS article archive may be found here.)
Hey! Great commentary! Glad Marlena came out again, but I agree about her choice in seats . . . WAY too far from the action. I was in section 103, this time, row three . . . GREAT view, still, of the warmups. :D. Little bit harder to see action on the other end of the field, though.
Personally, I didn't mind the 0-0 tie, and I thought the team played better than they have, lately (given, especially, who was NOT playing). Oh, and I took 400+ photos . . . trying to weed it down some (I'm down to only 200+ now). Will post them eventually!